Queens Council races clear up after new vote count, but some too close to call

The Board of Elections released their latest count of votes in the races for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, City Council and others on Tuesday. Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

Three Queens candidates running for open seats in the City Council declared victory in their respective races on Tuesday after the city’s Board of Elections released its first ranked-choice voting tabulation in June’s primary election.

But while one of the three races appears to have a clear victor, the other two appear too close to call with hundreds of mail-in ballots yet to be counted by the BOE.

Tyrell Hankerson, who is running to replace his boss, Speaker Adrienne Adams, in District 28 in Southeast Queens, held a large lead in the five-person contest and appears to have easily secured the Democratic nomination for the seat.

The other two races for open seats aren’t as clear.

Local organizer Shanel Thomas-Henry declared victory in District 21, which covers parts of Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, after Tuesday’s count showed her leading the race by 373 votes over progressive candidate Erycka Montoya.

According to BOE data, there are still a little over 700 mail-in ballots left to count in the race – the next round of counting will take place next Tuesday.

Similarly, Phil Wong, a staffer for Conservative Councilmember Robert Holden hoping to succeed his boss, declared victory in District 30, which covers parts of Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale, Ridgewood, Elmhurst, and Rego Park. Wong led the race on Tuesday by 235 votes with over 1,000 mail-in ballots left to be counted.

The RCV tallies released Tuesday also made Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s historic and surprising victory over former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the mayor’s race official, as well Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine’s win in the Democratic primary for comptroller and Public Advocate Jumaane WIlliams’ win over Queens Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar.

Here’s more on the latest count.

District 21

Thomas-Henry maintained a 373 vote lead as of Tuesday afternoon over progressive candidate Erycka Montoya in the D21 race to replace term-limited Councilmember Francisco Moya.

District Leader Yanna Henriquez, who was backed by both Moya and the Queens County Democratic Party, finished in third in the race, ahead of fourth-place finisher David Aiken, who was endorsed by the area’s other local district leader, Hiram Monserrate.

Even with 700 outstanding mail-in ballots left to count, Thomas-Henry said her lead was solid enough to begin the celebration.

“I am overjoyed that our community has selected me to be their Democratic nominee for the next Councilmember in District 21,” she said in a statement to the Eagle. “Thank you to everyone who was a part of this journey and I look forward to working together with everyone. From Corona, to Lefrak City, to East Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights — we are one community, with one future.”

Montoya did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

Henriquez thanked her supporters in a comment to the Eagle.

“While the outcome was not what we had hoped for, the experience has been profoundly humbling and inspiring,” she said. “This campaign was never just about one person — it was about all of us. About building a stronger, more compassionate, and more equitable community where every voice is heard and every neighbor is valued.”

In the ranked-choice voting count, Aiken’s votes distributed mainly to Thomas-Henry, who gained 411 votes after the first round. Following Henriquez’s exit, Montoya pulled in 544 votes to Thomas-Henry’s 290, but it was not enough to close the gap in the final round.

Results on election night showed Thomas-Henry performed strongly in the northern parts of the district near LaGuardia Airport, as well as the southern tip of the district adjacent to Queens Center Mall.

District 28

In District 28, Hankerson, Adams’ district chef of staff and chosen successor, is the apparent victor.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Hankerson – who raised the most money in the race – appeared to solidify his election day count, holding a near 2,000 vote and 18 percent lead over local activist Japneet Singh.

Singh, who pulled in overwhelming support from the district’s South Asian and Indo-Caribbean neighborhoods, was followed by Latoya LeGrand, former Councilmember Ruben Wills and Romeo Hitlall.

“This was a hard-fought race, and we are proud of the coalition we have built throughout this district,” said Hankerson. “From the very beginning, our message was one District 28, and we carried that message throughout the campaign. We are elated that the voters chose me, Ty Hankerson, to be their next representative, and we will fight every single day to make sure our district is affordable, is safe, and we all enjoy a better quality of life.”

Hankerson also thanked Adams, and other local backers.

“Thank you for the foundation you laid and the trust you put in me to make the Great 28 greater,” he said of his Adams, who he called his “boss and mentor.”

D28’s votes were almost directly split down either side of the Van Wyck Expressway with Hankerson pulling in the predominantly Black neighborhoods to the east, and Singh pulling in the voting districts to the west that are predominantly South Asian and Indo-Caribbean.

“I'm honored to have received over 40 percent of the vote in a district that has only 700 registered Sikh voters,” Singh said. “It is a testament to the coalitions and community we were able to build. This race also highlighted the systemic racism and discrimination that exists within our district and as we move forward there's a lot of work to be done to close those gaps.”

“I'm still going to be here, working every single day to close those gaps,” he added. “I would like to congratulate all the candidates that ran and look forward to working with each one of them to make a better District 28.”

In the ranked-choice voting count, Hitlall – the other candidate running from the district's western side – saw his votes go mainly to Singh, who received an additional 384 votes in round three when no other candidates got more than 90.

Wills’ exit in the fourth round saw votes distributed mainly to Hankerson, but Singh and LeGrand picked up some ground as well.

LeGrand’s exit handed over 1,000 votes to Hankerson, and only around 400 to Singh.

Hankerson had a near 10 point lead on election night, so Singh would have had to receive a significant share of RCV votes from remaining candidates to have a chance at catching up.

District 30

The race for Holden’s seat is currently the closest, and while Wong had declared victory it is still too close to call.

Wong, who was endorsed by his boss, led local civic leader and roller hockey league founder Paul Pogozelski by 235 votes, and the BOE had more than 1,000 outstanding ballots in the race as of Tuesday.

“I believe I can safely declare victory,” Wong said over the phone on Tuesday. “I feel encouraged by the unofficial ranked choice vote results. I still have to look forward to the certification from the Board of Elections that would put me officially in the victory spot. But right now, I believe I am the winner of the Democratic primary.”

Pogozelski, who pulled in overwhelming support in the district’s progressive areas in Ridgewood, didn’t concede on Tuesday.

“The numbers are in Phil’s favor at this moment,” he said. “It is still unofficial and we will congratulate him on the win once it is official.”

“Let’s see what the official results will be as there are some absentees and cures that need to be counted,” he added.

Pogozelski narrowed Wong’s election night win from four and a half points to three percent after the majority of Queens Democratic Party-backed candidate Dermot Smyth’s votes went to him in the final round. Pogozelski pulled in 1,129 votes from Smyth to Wong’s 886.

Smyth did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday, but said last week that election day results didn’t look good for his campaign.

If Wong does ultimately pull out the race, he will face a fellow Bob Holden staffer, Republican Alicia Vaichunas, in the general election. The two have a close relationship, and Holden said he will not endorse between the two of them if they do face each other.

Citywide races

Tuesday’s ranked-choice count confirmed much of what was already known about Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary for mayor on election night, which was called after Cuomo conceded far earlier than many expected.

Mamdani held on to his election night lead over Cuomo in the latest count, finishing with a more-than 100,000 vote lead, or 12 percent lead, over the former governor.

The 33-year-old socialist Queens legislator called his win a “mandate” following the highest mayoral election turnout since Mayor David Dinkins was elected in 1989.

"Last Tuesday, Democrats spoke in a clear voice, delivering a mandate for an affordable city, a politics of the future, and a leader unafraid to fight back against rising authoritarianism,” Mamdani said in a statement on Tuesday. “I am humbled by the support of more than 545,000 New Yorkers who voted for our campaign and am excited to expand this coalition even further as we defeat Eric Adams and win a city government that puts working people first."

Cuomo resigned around an hour and a half after the polls closed on election night, and the RCV totals confirmed his surprising loss to Mamdani.

“From the bottom of our hearts we thank the 428,530 New Yorkers who chose to rank Governor Cuomo as their choice for mayor and who believed in his vision to get the city back on track,” his spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in a statement. “While it's 24,017 more votes than Eric Adams received four years ago, this primary saw a massive spike in voters under 30, and those who had never voted before – completely changing the overall electorate, which is why no poll or model predicted the outcome – an outcome which was also felt in council races citywide.”

Mamdani will face Mayor Eric Adams, former prosecutor Jim Walden, Republican nominee and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, and Cuomo in the November general election, but Cuomo has not confirmed if he will actively campaign in the race.

In the race for comptroller, incumbent Jumaane Williams’ lead over Queens Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar and businessman Marty Dolan remained relatively unchanged from election night to Tuesday’s count.

Williams pulled in around 71 percent of the vote to Rajkumar’s 18 percent and Dolan’s 9 percent.

Mark Levine’s election day lead in the race for comptroller was further solidified after the ranked-choice voting count on Tuesday. He pulled away with 58 percent of the vote in the final round of counting over Justin Brannan, who brought in 41 percent.